Mark has already pointed that out. I'm not accustomed to sciencespeak (thank whoever is up there) and I've checked Chambers which defines "theory" as "a series of ideas and general principles which seek to explain some aspect of the world". I don't view scientists as all-knowing so I'll stick with Chambers' definition. Yourposts come over as a bit patronising.

There are different uses for the word. A theory in scientific terms is essentially the pinnacle of a hypothesis, so to speak.

And laundry is right on this one, when he says that it is proven through logic. Asking for an experiment, as some have, is like asking for someone to set up an experiment that proves that 2+2= 4.

Yes it is, the result is probabilistically determinable. As - given that quantum physics is the under-lying mechanism in the universe - all results of any experiment are probabilistically determinable to us. Like I said if you for some reason think that the double-slit experiment is not determinable then by extension nothing we scientifically measure would be determinable.

Because the intuition that life has meaning is so deeply ingrained in us that we don't live our lives in a nihilistic fashion.

There is no logic in it. I'm an extremely logical person, but I'm not a robot. I can recognise that free will is an illusion and still not be conscious of that fact for most of the day. I don't walk around constantly thinking, "I have no free will!"

As above, the idea that we consciously author our actions is such a strong intuition that we feel as though it's true, even when we know that it is false.

Ask a physicist.

If we are a part of the same nature/pattern (Determinism) then why the intuition that life has meaning is so deeply ingrained in us? Shouldn't that be a part of the very pattern as well; therefore, we shouldn’t feel or even be aware of the notion that we have free will? Why this very pattern would then create such contradiction within itself?

And I don't see why I should ask a Physicist when you are the one who is fully determined on the ancient concept that every event has a prior cause that causes the event itself. The Big Bang happens to be the biggest event that has ever happened to our knowledge so I need to what caused it. You, of all people, should know.

If we are a part of the same nature/pattern (Determinism) then why the intuition that life has meaning is so deeply ingrained in us? Shouldn't that be a part of the very pattern as well; therefore, we shouldn’t feel or even be aware of the notion that we have free will? Why this very pattern would then create such contradiction within itself?

Because most people don't think about it. And those who do think about it, don't do so until they are older. By that time, we have been exposed to years of environmental pressure that reinforces the idea that we have free will.

Quote

And I don't see why I should ask a Physicist when you are the one who is fully determined on the ancient concept that every event has a prior cause that causes the event itself.

When did I say that everything has a prior cause? Our actions certainly all have prior causes. However, the idea that everything has a prior cause is a pitfall in our thinking because we are pattern-seeking creatures. There is no reason not to think that the universe, even prior to the big bang, existed in some form.

Quote

The Big Bang happens to be the biggest event that has ever happened to our knowledge so I need to what caused it. You, of all people, should know.